Report: Braves make strong offer for Realmuto – or maybe not

The hot stove season is just a few days old, but the rumors of J.T. Realmuto to the Braves are already flying…kind of.

I wrote a piece last week about what the Atlanta Braves should offer to acquire arguably the games’ best catcher, J.T. Realmuto, and like many commented, it was a significant prospect package.

Reports came out today from Craig Mish, who is a MLB host on Sirius XM Radio and host of a Marlins podcast, that said the Braves have made a significant offer for Realmuto, but Miami was reluctant to make the deal inside the NL East.

This news comes just 1 day after the Braves were said to be taking an interest in free agent catcher Robinson Chirinos.

The report is consistent with what MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reported last month about the Marlins interest in Mike Soroka and Austin Riley, when the Braves called Miami at the trade deadline.

Counterpoint

Not long after Mish tweeted out his report, Jon Heyman responded with his own news on Realmuto to the Braves.

Conflicting reports… which were later backed up (on Heyman’s side) by multiple beat writers connected to the Braves.  Ah, welcome to the hot stove!

What do we have here?

I vividly remember Alex Anthopolous saying at the trade deadline that if there are any reports about the team’s interest in a player or the team has made an offer for a player, that those are probably inaccurate.

Anthopolous has long been known for running a tight-lipped operation and his deals often times come out of nowhere.

So while Heyman and other industry reporters have their ear close to every organization, I would tend to believe people like Mish, who are much closer to an organization – and in this case, he would be hearing things from the Marlins’ side, not the Braves.

Also (and this is important), it should be noted that Mish first reported the Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich trades last year.

Of course, there will be competition, too:

So take all that for what it’s worth.

Is that really all for J.T.?

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If Mish’s reports are in fact true and the Braves only have to part with two prospects for Realmuto, then that would be an absolute steal.

Losing (hypothetically), Soroka and Riley would barely make a dent into the young plethora of players the Braves have.

Soroka would be a contender for the Braves rotation next season and Anthopolous said yesterday he is completely healthy and will be ready for Spring Training. But there are eight or nine other options.

Riley was supposed to be the everyday third basemen, possibly as early as mid-2019, but with the emergence of Johan Camargo last season, Riley might be expendable, too.

It’s only November 7th and the rumors are coming fast.  Repeat: it’s only November 7th.

Buckle up, folks.